Aspire Create, the Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, is an exciting new joint research venture between the Aspire Charity, University College London and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. The centre was established at the beginning of 2014 to develop translational research to improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Currently, it houses five academics (Dr Rui Loureiro, Dr Lynsey Duffell, Dr Tom Carlson, Dr Anne Vanhoestenberghe and Dr Steve Taylor), along with their research teams. This rapidly growing centre investigates techniques that are applicable and transferable between different domains in related areas of interest, including, but not limited to stroke, muscular dystrophy, amputation, the ageing population and training of specialised skills (e.g. surgical).

PhD studentship with the London Spinal Cord Injury Research Centre announced here.

10 Dec 2014

Congratulations to "The Eggsperts", Giulia Barbareschi, Chinemelu Ezeh and Rhys Williams, PhD students from Aspire Create and BIG@PAMELA, who scooped first place with their robot at the Institute of Making's Great Egg Race. Look at the photos.

We were honoured by a lab visit from the Dean of Medical Sciences, Prof David Lomas, where he interacted with our demos and chatted to our staff and students.

19 Nov 2014

Aspire Create delivered a Special Grand Round entitled "Technology for the advancement of rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries". It was a 1.5h lunchtime seminar, organised by the School of Life Sciences and Medicine, and open to the public and attracted over 100 attendees.

18 Sep 2014

We ran a very successful session during the Division of Surgery's Away Day, which introduced the Aspire Create and concluded with an interactive panel session.

Overview

This exciting new MSc is offered by the recently formed Aspire Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology within the well-established and internationally respected Institute of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Science at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore (UCL).

Rehabilitation engineering is a rapidly developing field, closely related to biomedical engineering, which has the potential to revolutionise the way we enable patients to independently take back control of their activities of daily living. Complementary to drugs and surgery, this MSc focusses on how state-of-the-art technologies, such as robotics, can be developed and used to help promote the restoration of motor function, or where this is not currently possible, how they can help to substitute lost motor function. The course targets complex and challenging medical conditions such as spinal cord injuries and stroke, as well as covering issues that arise from the global trend of the ageing population.

This unique MSc will: prepare students with core fundamental knowledge of these interdisciplinary subject areas; provide an overview of the many exciting applications of rehabilitation engineering and assistive technologies; and develop the students’ transferable research skills (including project planning, organisation, critical analysis, communication and teamwork skills). The taught modules will be supported in parallel by specially tailored lab-based group research projects, which will enable students to apply their knowledge and refine their research skills in small teams, within a supportive laboratory environment. This will prepare them for the culmination of the MSc: a comprehensive laboratory based individual project, where they will investigate cutting-edge research questions. To this end, they will be provided with an expert advisor, a network of knowledgeable colleagues and a well-equipped environment, which will open up opportunities for further research and publications.

Curriculum

*Optional modules: students will choose exactly two of these. Each optional module will be run subject to attaining a minimum subscription of students for that module.